.
The communal bond between friends is deservedly reflected with the sharing
of food, and everyday news, and the wish for more –
for a long time.And this was amply practiced at the Monteverd deck and pool on an
early-August late afternoon, with the core of six and the complement of
those who have shared meals with us somewhere in our 140 dinner history!
After four swimmers
tested the inviting water, we gathered on the deck and deck steps to soak
in the sun that waxed both comfortable and just a degree warm.

Drinks ran
the gamut of soda, water, wines of red and white and rose, choices of
beer, with everyone pitching in

Dinner
was timed (right, Ken?) as the sun had just set, with no one having to
squint, and we watched the sky fade from its earlier marbled robin blue
and cream into indigo and then almost black. Cackles of laughter, a hubbub
of interlaced conversation, an occasional moment of interruptive silence
merged into consensus that the good life was being lived this evening in a
small corner of Freehold. Missing from the bliss: Tim & Judy, Mark
& Joyce, Julie Q.

Topics
of chatter, serious debate, and innuendo? Nameless, for a change.

Happy
Summer, to all
of us, and thank
you, Kriss and
Ken, for hosting, and for the pool, and for a day nicer than forecast.